Norton Security review, manual and guides

Norton Security is an anti-malware program developed by Symantec.[1] They have been in the competition since 1982, so you wouldn’t be wrong to say that the Symantec team are one of the most experienced developers in the market.[2].

Norton Security has been a fan-favorite for many years because of the developers' professional approach towards their program. The application has a lot of positive reviews from experts on the Internet. Our team decided to analyze the product by themselves and see whether the new version of the program lives up to its standards.

Pros

Cons

Verdict

Has a firewall protection system

The virus detection and removal rates are rather average

A good solution for those who want a professional program with a good firewall.

Decent tech support with a free virus removal option

Resource usage is quite high

60-day money back guarantee

Mediocre real-time protection

Attractive and easy to use user interface

Download and Installation

In order to use the program, you have to download its installation file and install it onto your system. You can easily download Norton Security from this page.

The installation process is very quick.

When you have the setup file on your PC, locate it and click on it. You will see the Installation Wizard on your screen. Read everything that it has to say and follow the steps thoroughly. Most of the time you will just need to click the “Next” button. When the installation is complete, click “Finish”.

Norton offers Internet security and antivirus packages for all Windows users according to their needs. They offer Norton Antivirus Basic, Norton Security Standard, Norton Security Deluxe and Norton Security Premium. Users also can combine various packages with other privacy and security solutions, such as Norton LifeLock or Norton Wi-Fi Privacy.

Norton Security Standard covers the essentials and can protect one PC, 1 Mac or 1 mobile device and starts at $39.99 for the first year and $69.99 for the following years.

Test Results

Here you can see our take on the infamous anti-malware application. We tested Norton Security for 30 days on a computer with Windows 10 OS.

Antivirus protection

Norton Security applies malware detection techniques that are similar to most of its competitors’. Defenses include traditional signature matching that checks for known malware and heuristic analysis that monitors behavior in order to detect unknown zero-day malware. In addition, Norton’s cloud servers collect suspicious icons from more than 50 million customer machines.

Firstly, to test the new software, we installed a lot of virus samples on our test PC and then installed the Norton Security application and ran a full scan to see how well it would cope with the threats.

Norton scan results are better than the market average.

Actually, the results were better than the competition average, but there also were some drawbacks.

Norton Security left most of the adware[3]. Even though this adware was not too dangerous, it took up about 20% of the total samples that we used, meaning Norton Security caught and removed only 80% of the given threats. That’s not a bad result after all, but you would expect more from the developers that have such a great reputation in the market.

When it comes to real-time protection[4], you could witness almost the same results. After we installed the Norton Security application, we tried to install different types of malware and rogue-ware, and only 50% of it was successfully identified and removed.

The biggest problem was the Norton clone which uses strong phishing techniques[5] and random adware.

On top of that, there were a few problems with the performance of the software. For example, after a long scan, it started freezing and the removal of viruses took quite a long time. We were working with a computer that had good specifications, so that was a strange experience.

Additionally, Norton Security has a firewall feature. It is supposed to protect your PC against incoming threats.

The firewall stopped 75% of the threats.

The test results for the firewall were quite acceptable, as more than 75% of threats were successfully identified and removed. We also noticed that there were lots of advanced settings for the firewall that might be really helpful for the advanced user.

It also includes Always-There customer support and a 100% guarantee to keep your device malware-free or will give a refund.

More features are available in Norton Security Deluxe and Norton Security Premium.

System-performance impact and scans

When we tested the resource usage, it showed average results – the boot time was a bit slower in comparison to other products in the competition; however, it didn’t make a big impact. During the full scan, the application slowed down the system by 17%, which is not that much considering the program does a difficult job scanning every corner of the computer.

Norton Security Standard was also tested by AV-TEST. According to the most recent test results, Norton Security has a mediocre system-performance impact. The heaviest impact Norton Security had while installing commonly-used apps (26%) and while launching popular websites (14%). These scores are slightly higher than the industry average.

When it comes to scanning performance, the full system scan took almost an hour and 10 minutes, the quick system scan took almost 4 minutes. Users are able to limit scans to the most dangerous files, then the full system scan will be finished in less than half an hour.

User interface

We can't praise the Symantec designer team enough for the good-looking user interface. It is bright and contains a lot of color green, which is very pleasing to the eye. The user interface and the dashboard look as if they are quite easy to navigate.

The navigation will be easy for the average user, but if you are tech savvy and you are looking for advanced settings and additional options, you might have a hard time as there are a lot of pop-ups and a million of switches for the advanced user to deal with.

Heavily improved tech support

One of the strongest sides of the program this year is their tech support. They really improved a lot, firstly by having a 60-day refund policy. This means that if you purchase the full version of Norton Security and get infected by malware while using it, and the tech specialists cannot remove it for you, you get all the money back.

Also, it is quite a good thing that now they perform the virus removal procedure for free and that their phone support, which is based in India, is quite easy to reach. This year, Norton Security deserves a big plus for the improvement in the tech support area.

Customer reviews

Norton Security has mainly positive reviews on various pages. Many of these come from longtime users who have had the anti-malware program for years. Some say that while Norton Security has been protecting their system, they had no viruses and their computers were clean.

Many reviews claim Norton to be one of the best anti-malware applications.

There is some praise for the option to purchase the application for a few devices at once. Actually, the majority of the reviewers state that Norton is one of the best antivirus applications out there.

Some of the negative reviews say that there were some technical difficulties with the application, for example, that it wouldn't load once the PC is turned on or that the computer would become slower with it.

However, in comparison to other anti-malware software, this program has a really big number of satisfied customers, so we can boldly state that Norton is at the top of anti-virus competition.

The final verdict

Norton Security software is a really good choice if you want to have a security product that has been on the market for many years and already has a following. With this program, you will not experience any major setbacks and will not notice any easily visible flaws.

Norton has a lot of satisfied clients.

To conclude, Norton Security is a good solution as it detects the majority of threats.

There might be some space for improvement, but it is clearly visible that the developers are working hard, constantly renewing the version of the program. However, you have to keep in mind that the application tends to drain the system a little, so make sure that your machine is powerful enough.

Feature

Score

Antivirus protection

Excellent

Additional features

Few extra features

System-performance impact

Medium

Scanning performance

Slow system scans with a medium impact on a system

User interface

Very bright and simple

Other products

Norton Security for Mac

As it was mentioned before, Norton offers protection for users across all the operating systems.

Norton Security Deluxe for Mac is a great choice for those who look for an advanced antivirus protection. The application helps users to keep their Macs protected and malware-free. However, the package does not include many special features and is relatively expensive.

For a detailed review of Norton Security Deluxe for Mac, please click here.

Norton Security and Antivirus for Android

If you have Android device and want to ensure its protection, Reviewed by Pro recommends you to check out Norton Mobile Security and Antivirus application for Android. Norton Mobile Security and Antivirus is an award-winning software for your smartphone or tablet. Even though the application does not offer the most features in the market, it offers an excellent antivirus protection. However, the downsides are that it can seem a bit expensive for a single user and it has a heavy system-performance impact.

To read a full review of Norton Security and Antivirus for Android, please click here.

Norton Power Eraser

Reviewed by Pro team recommends users ensure their PCs safety with Norton Power Eraser. Norton Power Eraser is a portable, executable tool that offers consumers advanced scanner and malware removal. The tool is compatible only with Windows computers and won't work on Macs.

Norton LifeLock

For those who have experienced data breach and want to protect personal and sensitive data, Norton by Symantec introduces LifeLock. LifeLock is a pioneer in identity theft protection and provides advanced, industry-leading identity and device protection. Norton offers three plans of LifeLock, including LifeLock Standard, LifeLock Advantage, and LifeLock Ultimate Plus.

Norton Core Router

Norton Core Router was designed in order to protect a home Wi-Fi network. Norton Core is a high0performance Wi-Fi router that secures every device connected to it and provides multiple layer protection. It offers a variety of useful features including optimized security, Dual Band support, beamforming, parental control, IoT protection and more.

Norton Small Business

Norton also offers its customers to protect their businesses by using Norton Small Business. Norton Small Business is simple but effective business security suite that ensures complete Internet security, antivirus protection, and ID and data protection. Norton Small Business allows consumers to enjoy peace of mind that their businesses are protected.

Comparison

Norton Internet Security and Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Norton by Symantec and Kaspersky Lab are ones of the most popular and widely used security software in the market. Both antivirus packages provide reliable and stable PC protection against threats. Comparing these two security suites, Norton Internet Security scored better in malware detection and removal, firewall protection and customer technical support. On the other hand, Kaspersky Anti-Virus demonstrated flawless real-time and anti-phishing protection, but couldn't do anything on highly-infected PC.

To read a full comparison between Norton Internet Security and Kaspersky Anti-Virus, please click here.